Donald Trump has tapped a close ally to serve as the country’s top intelligence official, days after Tulsi Gabbard announced her exit from the role.
The US president said that Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and heir to a home construction company fortune, will serve as acting director of national intelligence.
Pulte – who has no known experience in national security – has used his role at the powerful housing agency, which oversees regulations of the federal housing lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to publicly level a string of extraordinary allegations at Trump’s political opponents and enemies.
Pulte, a major Republican donor appointed by Trump to head the FHFA, has accused targets of Trump, including the US Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, of committing mortgage fraud. Cook has denied wrongdoing.
“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. Pulte will remain director of the FHFA, Trump said.
Gabbard endured a tumultuous stint in the role, largely sidelined as Trump launched attacks on Venezuela and Iran.
The president had been asking cabinet members as early as April whether he should replace Gabbard, according to two people briefed on the discussions.
She already seemed marginalized last June, when Trump endorsed Israel’s decision to attack Iran before the US joined the war by ordering the bombing of the Islamic regime’s nuclear facilities.
Pulte has faced growing questions over his referrals of alleged fraud since taking over the FHFA. One former high-ranking official described his handling of the Cook case as “very bizarre” last year.
Senate Republicans also appeared uneasy with the choice.
John Thune, the Senate majority leader, told reporters that “we don’t need a weaponized” national intelligence director and Pulte would have “a lengthy road ahead of him” if he were nominated to take the post on a permanent basis.
“If they nominate him to take the position permanently, he’ll have to go through a confirmation process and hearings and everything else,” Thune said.
Asked about fears that Pulte might pursue Trump’s political opponents in light of his role in scrutinizing mortgage records of the president’s adversaries in his previous role, Thune said: “We need professionals there.”
Ron Filipowski, a former Republican who is now the editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, an online news site, derided Pulte as a “nepo baby” because of his family ties to the PulteGroup building firm.
“Let’s find an unqualified nepo-baby with zero experience in military, intelligence or government service who repeatedly says dumb things and has spent his time as housing finance director trying to prosecute Democrats and make DNI [director of national intelligence],” he wrote.
Despite his family links, however, the New York Times reported that Pulte no longer has any official connection to the group, having been pushed off the board in 2020.
The family’s $500m charitable foundation, run by his aunt and his father, have also taken steps to distance itself from him, publicly stating that he does not speak for the rest of the family.
“The [Pulte Family Charitable Foundation] believes that some of Bill Pulte’s public communications may have created confusion between our organization and his endeavors,” the foundation said in a statement issued in 2023. “We want to be clear that Bill Pulte is not a representative of, nor has he served in any capacity, for the PFCF.”
